Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to carabiners. More particularly, but not exclusively, it concerns a carabiner used by mountaineers or climbers to ensure their safety with the aid of a rope. This invention concerns an improvement to the carabiner design which mitigates the risk associated with improper use of the carabiner.
2. Description of Prior Art
Carabiners are widely recognized and used in climbing. The devices may be formed of solid materials, or of tubing to afford light weight. Carabiners generally are comprised of a latch arrangement at one end of a pivoting gate member and a rope receiving member, typically C-shaped, which is narrowed and includes an inwardly facing notch. The gate member is slotted to fit over the narrowed portion of the rope receiving member and includes a transverse bar to fit the notch thus forming a latch arrangement. Conventionally, the gate member can rotate with respect to a pivot point, usually a flush rivet, positioned perpendicular to the plane of the rope receiving member. The gate member is spring loaded so as to normally be positioned in the latched position with the rope receiving member. A climber can pass a rope through the carabiner by rotating the gate member away from its latch point with the rope receiving member, thus creating an opening into which the rope may be inserted. This process is called clipping the rope into the carabiner.
Over the years, many improvements have been made to the basic carabiner design. Generally the improvements have focused on decreasing the weight, increasing the ease with which a rope may be clipped into the carabiner, or locking the gate in place once the rope has been clipped. Those improvements which allow the gate to be locked generally require the use of two hands to operate the carabiner, one hand holds the rope receiving member while the other operates the locking means.
In the sport of rock climbing a climber wears a harness to which one end of a rope is attached. The rope passes through a belay device which is attached to the harness of another person, the belayer. The belayer operates the belay device and typically remains at a stable low point while the climber ascends. The climber drags the rope up the rock as he/she ascends while the belayer feeds out rope through the belay device. At various points during the ascent, the climber clips the rope into carabiners which, in turn, are attached to the surface of the rock. If the climber falls, the belayer must grasp the rope securely by means of the belay device. The fall is therefore stopped by means of the belay device and the climber comes to rest suspended from the highest carabiner through which the rope has been run. Thereafter, the belayer may gently lower the climber to the ground by operating the belay device so as to gradually release tension on the rope. Since a climber is often in a precarious position when attempting to clip the rope into a carabiner, he/she usually only has one hand free with which to make the clip. Consequently, although locking carabiners have many uses, including the attachment of a belay device to a climber""s harness, they are generally not used as the carabiners into which a climber would clip while making an ascent.
It is widely know within the sport of climbing that there is a right way to clip the rope into the carabiner while making an ascent and there is a wrong way. From the climber""s perspective, the right way is for the rope to pass through the carabiner such that the portion of the rope in back of the carabiner leads to the belayer, and the portion in front of the carabiner leads to the climber. If the rope is clipped in the opposite manner to that just described, it is referred to as a xe2x80x9cback-clipxe2x80x9d. Back-clipping is very dangerous in that it can result in the rope slipping free from the carabiner in the event of a fall by the climber. Most of the manufacturers of carabiners have recognized this risk associated with the improper use of their product, and have included instructions and warnings in their product literature to promote the right method of clipping and to avoid back-clipping.
Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,316 to Gabriel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,212 to Bilbollet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,467 to Lowe, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,266 to Fister et. al.
The essence of the present invention is an improved carabiner which mitigates the risk associated with the fall of a climber in the event that the climber inadvertently back-clips.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved carabiner that mitigates the risk associated with the fall of a climber in the event that the climber inadvertently back-clips. The present invention will not allow the rope to come free from the carabiner if a climber has fallen with the rope in a back-clipped position with respect to the carabiner.
Another object is that this improvement to the general carabiner design be simple and require no additional learning or effort on the part of the climber relative to the use of a standard carbiner.
Still another object is that the improved carabiner of the present invention add only minimal cost compared to that of a carbiner without the subject improvement.
These and other objects of the subject invention will become apparent to those familiar with the different types carabiners when reviewing the following detailed description, showing novel construction, combination, and elements as herein described, and more particularly defined by the claims, it being understood that changes in the embodiments to the herein disclosed invention are meant to be included as coming within the scope of the claims, except insofar as they may be precluded by the prior art.